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On August 1, 2017 Oregon’s Marion County had 232 of the 984 foreign nationals (criminal aliens) incarcerated in the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) prison system; the county was first in foreign national crime in the state with 23.58 percent of the criminal aliens in DOC prisons.

The following table reveals how Marion County residents were harmed or victimized by the 232 criminal aliens incarcerated on August 1st in the DOC prison system with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immigration detainers.

OREGON DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

Crime

Total Number of Inmates W/ ICE Detainers in DOC Prisons from Marion County by Type of Crime

Percentage of Inmates W/ICE Detainers in DOC Prisons from Marion County by Type of Crime

This table reveals, using the DOC ICE detainer numbers from August 1st, the total number of criminal alien inmates incarcerated in the DOC prison system by type of crime from all Oregon counties, the total number of criminal alien inmates from Marion County in DOC prisons by type of crime and the percentage of those alien inmates who were from the county by type of crime.

OREGON DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

Crime

Total number of Inmates W/ ICE Detainers in DOC Prisons from all Oregon Counties by Type of Crime

Total number of Inmates W/ ICE Detainers in DOC Prisons from Marion County by Type of Crime

Percentage of Inmates W/ICE Detainers in DOC Prisons from Marion County by Type of Crime

The following table reveals the self-declared countries of origin of the majority of the 232 criminal aliens with ICE immigration detainers who have harmed or victimized the residents of Marion County in the DOC prison system.

OREGON DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

Country

Total Inmates W/ ICE Detainers from Marion Country by Country of Origin in DOC Prisons

Percentage of Inmates W/ICE Detainers by Country of Origin from Marion County in DOC Prisons

Criminal aliens from 20 different countries have harmed or victimized the residents of Marion County.

David Olen Cross of Salem, Oregon writes on immigration issues and foreign national crime. This report is a service to Oregon state, county and city governmental officials in MarionCounty to help them assess the impact of foreign national crime in the county. He can be reached at docfnc@yahoo.com or at http://docfnc.wordpress.com/

Data obtained from the DOC indicated that on August 1st there were 984 foreign nationals (criminal aliens) incarcerated in the state’s prison system; approximately one in every fifteen prisoners incarcerated by the state was a criminal alien, 6.68 percent of the total prison population.

Some background information, all 984 criminal aliens currently incarcerated in the DOC prison system were identified by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a federal law enforcement agency that is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. If an inmate is identified by ICE as being a criminal alien, at the federal law enforcement agency’s request, DOC officials will place an “ICE detainer” on the inmate. After the inmate completes his/her state sanction, prison officials will transfer custody of the inmate to ICE.

Using DOC Inmate Population Profiles and ICE detainer numbers, the following table reveals the total number inmates, the number of domestic and criminal alien inmates along with the percentage of them with ICE detainers incarcerated on August 1st in the state’s prisons.

OREGON DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

Month/Day/Year

DOC Total Inmates

DOC Total Domestic Inmates

DOC Total Inmates W/ICE Detainers

DOC % Inmates W/ICE Detainers

August 1, 2017

14,722

13,738

984

6.68%

Source: Research and Evaluation DOC Report ICE inmates list 01 August 17 and Inmate Population Profile 01 August 17.

Using DOC ICE detainer numbers, the following table reveals the number and percentage of criminal alien prisoners incarcerated on August 1st that were sent to prison from the state’s 36 counties.

Using the DOC Inmate Population Profile and ICE detainer numbers from August 1st, the following table reveals the total number inmates by crime type, the number of domestic and criminal alien prisoners incarcerated by type of crime and the percentage of those crimes committed by criminal aliens.

OREGON DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

Crime

DOC Total Inmates by Type of Crime

DOC Total Domestic Inmates by Type of Crime

DOC Total Inmates W/ICE Detainers by Type of Crime

DOC Inmates W/ICE Detainers as a % of Total Inmates by Type of Crime

Sex Abuse

1,726

1,526

200

11.59%

Rape

977

803

174

17.81%

Homicide

1,720

1,582

138

8.02%

Drugs

833

721

112

13.45%

Sodomy

1,025

928

97

9.46%

Assault

2,041

1,964

77

3.77%

Robbery

1,521

1,468

53

3.48%

Kidnapping

282

257

25

8.87%

Burglary

1,328

1,305

23

1.73%

Theft

1,131

1,113

18

1.59%

Driving Offense

222

213

9

4.05%

Vehicle Theft

470

466

4

0.85%

Arson

73

73

0

0.00%

Forgery

49

49

0

0.00%

Escape

36

36

0

0.00%

Other / Combination

1,288

1,234

54

4.19%

Total

14,722

13,738

984

Source: Research and Evaluation DOC Report ICE inmates list 01 August 17 and Inmate Population Profile 01 August 17.

Using DOC ICE detainer numbers, the following table reveals the self-declared countries of origin of the 984 criminal alien prisoners by number and percentage incarcerated on August 1st in the state’s prisons.

The DOC’s incarceration cost for its 984 criminal alien prison population is approximately ($93,037.20) per day, ($651,260.40) per week, and ($33,958,578.00) per year.

Even taking into account fiscal year 2016 U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), U.S. Department of Justice, State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) award of $1,788,075.00, if the State of Oregon receives the same amount of SCAAP funding for fiscal year 2017, the cost to incarcerate 984 criminal aliens to the DOC will be at least ($32,170,503.00). Note: At this point in time there is no indication the U.S. BJA will provide SCAAP awards in 2017.

None of preceding cost estimates for the DOC to incarcerate the 984 criminal aliens includes the dollar amount for legal services (indigent defense), language interpreters, court costs, or victim assistance.

Data obtained from the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) indicated that on July 1, 2017 that 468 of the 986 foreign nationals (criminal aliens) in the state’s prison system were incarcerated for three types of sex crimes (sex abuse, rape and sodomy), 47.46 percent of the criminal alien prison population.

The following table identifies the types, numbers and percentages of sex crimes committed by the 468 criminal aliens with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immigration detainers incarcerated on July 1st in DOC prisons.

Using DOC ICE detainer numbers, the following table reveals the number and percentage of 468 criminal alien prisoners incarcerated on July 1st that were sent to prison from the state’s 36 counties for the crimes of sex abuse, rape and sodomy.

OREGON DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

County

DOC Number Inmates W/ ICE Detainers by County Incarcerated for the Crime of Sex Abuse

DOC Number Inmates W/ICE Detainers by County Incarcerated for the Crime of Rape

DOC Number Inmates W/ICE Detainers by County Incarcerated for the Crime of Sodomy

DOC Number Inmates W/ICE Detainers by County Incarcerated for Sex Crimes

Using DOC ICE detainer numbers, the following table reveals the self-declared countries of origin of the criminal alien prisoners by number and percentage incarcerated on July 1st in the state’s prisons for the crimes of sex abuse, rape and sodomy.

OREGON DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

Country

DOC Number Inmates W/ ICE Detainers by CountryIncarcerated for the Crime of Sex Abuse

DOC Number Inmates W/ICE Detainers by Country Incarcerated for the Crime of Rape

DOC Number Inmates W/ICE Detainers by Country Incarcerated for the Crime of Sodomy

DOC Number Inmates W/ICE Detainers by Country Incarcerated for Sex Crimes

Criminal aliens from 38 different countries sexually abused, raped and sodomized residents in the state of Oregon.

David Olen Cross of Salem, Oregon writes on immigration issues and foreign national crime. This report is a service to Oregon state, county and city governmental officials to help them assess the impact of foreign national crime in the state. He can be reached at docfnc@yahoo.com or at http://docfnc.wordpress.com/

Data obtained from the DOC indicated that on July 1st there were 986 foreign nationals (criminal aliens) incarcerated in the state’s prison system; approximately one in every fifteen prisoners incarcerated by the state was a criminal alien, 6.69 percent of the total prison population.

Some background information, all 986 criminal aliens currently incarcerated in the DOC prison system were identified by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a federal law enforcement agency that is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. If an inmate is identified by ICE as being a criminal alien, at the federal law enforcement agency’s request, DOC officials will place an “ICE detainer” on the inmate. After the inmate completes his/her state sanction, prison officials will transfer custody of the inmate to ICE.

Using DOC Inmate Population Profiles and ICE detainer numbers, the following table reveals the total number inmates, the number of domestic and criminal alien inmates along with the percentage of them with ICE detainers incarcerated on July 1st in the state’s prisons.

OREGON DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

Month/Day/Year

DOC Total Inmates

DOC Total Domestic Inmates

DOC Total Inmates W/ICE Detainers

DOC % Inmates W/ICE Detainers

July 1, 2017

14,742

13,756

986

6.69%

Source: Research and Evaluation DOC Report ICE inmates list 01 July 17 and Inmate Population Profile 01 July 17.

Using DOC ICE detainer numbers, the following table reveals the number and percentage of criminal alien prisoners incarcerated on July 1st that were sent to prison from the state’s 36 counties.

Using the DOC Inmate Population Profile and ICE detainer numbers from July 1st, the following table reveals the total number inmates by crime type, the number of domestic and criminal alien prisoners incarcerated by type of crime and the percentage of those crimes committed by criminal aliens.

OREGON DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

Crime

DOC Total Inmates by Type of Crime

DOC Total Domestic Inmates by Type of Crime

DOC Total Inmates W/ICE Detainers by Type of Crime

DOC Inmates W/ICE Detainers as a % of Total Inmates by Type of Crime

Sex Abuse

1,724

1,525

199

11.54%

Rape

973

800

173

17.78%

Homicide

1,713

1,575

138

8.06%

Drugs

836

725

111

13.28%

Sodomy

1,022

926

96

9.39%

Assault

2,053

1,974

79

3.85%

Robbery

1,548

1,493

55

3.55%

Kidnapping

283

256

27

9.54%

Burglary

1,328

1,307

21

1.58%

Theft

1,119

1,101

18

1.61%

Driving Offense

224

215

9

4.02%

Vehicle Theft

464

460

4

0.86%

Arson

74

74

0

0.00%

Forgery

46

46

0

0.00%

Escape

34

34

0

0.00%

Other / Combination

1,301

1,245

56

4.30%

Total

14,742

13,756

986

Source: Research and Evaluation DOC Report ICE inmates list 01 July 17 and Inmate Population Profile 01 July 17.

Using DOC ICE detainer numbers, the following table reveals the self-declared countries of origin of the 986 criminal alien prisoners by number and percentage incarcerated on July 1st in the state’s prisons.

The DOC’s incarceration cost for its 986 criminal alien prison population is approximately ($93,226.30) per day, ($652,584.10) per week, and ($34,027,599.50) per year.

Even taking into account fiscal year 2016 U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), U.S. Department of Justice, State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) award of $1,788,075.00, if the State of Oregon receives the same amount of SCAAP funding for fiscal year 2017, the cost to incarcerate 986 criminal aliens to the DOC will be at least ($32,239,524.50). Note: At this point in time there is no indication the U.S. BJA will provide SCAAP awards in 2017.

None of preceding cost estimates for the DOC to incarcerate the 986 criminal aliens includes the dollar amount for legal services (indigent defense), language interpreters, court costs, or victim assistance.

Portland's reckless sanctuary city policy is to blame for the rape of two women by a man deported 20 times, Oregon's top Republican official told Fox News Monday.

State GOP chairman Bill Currier told "Fox & Friends" that Sergio Martinez, who was last detained in December but promptly released, should not have been in the country a week ago when he allegedly attacked a pair of women. The horrific attacks shocked the city and stoked fresh criticism of the pro-illegal immigrant policies.

"He was given preferential treatment,” said Currier. “Essentially in Oregon, our governor and the mayor of Portland, Ted Wheeler, have created a protected class for illegal aliens that commit serious crimes."

Martinez, 31, had a detainer placed on him as a “serious immigration violator” yet immigration officials in December were not notified. Multnomah County officials ended up releasing him back into the community.

Martinez is now being held without bail on charges of robbery, kidnapping and sexual abuse. One of his alleged victims is a 65-year-old woman who was brutally attacked in her home. The other woman was attacked in her apartment’s parking garage. Both attacks occurred last Monday.

Martinez has reportedly told Portland police he is a meth addict. He has been homeless in Portland for the past year.

Portland is widely known as a safe haven for illegal immigrants – no matter how many times they have been deported. The city and, Multnomah County and even the state legislature – all run by Democrats – have passed law declaring themselves a sanctuary for people in the country illegally.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Martinez has been deported 13 times since 2008. He has a lengthy criminal record in three states, with charges including battery, felony, burglary and felony illegal re-entry after removal.

He was in the Multnomah County Jail in December and ICE asked the sheriff’s department to notify them when he was released. The county ignored that request – as they do for all immigration detainers.

One month after Martinez was released, Multnomah County Sheriff Mike Reese launched an investigation into one of his deputies for contacting ICE before having a pre-trial meeting with an illegal immigrant. Around the same time, a judge was accused of letting an illegal immigrant slip out of her courtroom through the employee exit to escape ICE agents out in the hallway.

That judge was later found to have done nothing wrong.

As for Martinez, taxpayers may have to end up paying for his defense. The Portland City Council awarded $50,000 to launch a project aimed at helping immigrants fight deportation and other legal issues.

President Donald Trump came to the doorstep of communities hard-hit by gang violence Friday, describing some Long Island neighborhoods as “blood-stained killing fields” that are “under siege.”

Speaking at Suffolk Community College in Brentwood, Trump said he will ask Congress to augment the 6,000 immigration and customs enforcement officers currently in place by funding 10,000 more agents. He also said he will seek to add hundreds of immigration judges, and crack down on “sanctuary cities” that don’t enforce federal immigration laws.

Addressing gang members, Trump vowed: “We will find you, we will arrest you, we will jail you and we will deport you.”

Standing in front of uniformed law enforcement officers in dress blues, Trump said he supported the police — and also suggested that officers treat suspects rougher:

“Like when you guys put somebody in the car, and you’re protecting their head — the way you put the hand over — like don’t hit their head, and they’ve just killed somebody, don’t hit their head? I said, ‘You can take the hand away, okay.’”

The Suffolk County Police Department released a statement later in the evening that said, “As a department, we do not and will not tolerate roughing up of prisoners.” Suffolk’s former top uniformed officer, James Burke, is serving a federal prison sentence for beating a suspect and orchestrating a cover up.

Law enforcement has attributed 17 Long Island slayings since January 2016 to MS-13. That includes the murder of four young men lured to a Central Islip park and the murder of two teenage friends walking down the street.

Trump, who grew up in Queens, said he was surprised by the gang violence on Long Island.

“I grew up on Long Island,” he said. “I didn’t know about this. . . . I never thought I’d be up here talking about liberating the towns of Long Island, where I grew up.”

Trump shook hands with officers as he took the stage and was greeted with chants of “USA! USA!” from the crowd of uniformed officers and Republican elected officials.

Trump told police officers in attendance, “We have your backs 100 percent, not like in the old days.” Police cheered the remark.

“I am the big, big admirer, and believer, in law enforcement, from day one,” he said in his 37-minute speech. “We are going to destroy the vile criminal cartel, MS-13, and many other criminal gangs.”

Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) introduced Trump, calling the president a “great advocate” for law enforcement. “President Trump knows that blue lives do matter,” he said. “MS-13 is going to be destroyed . . . ”

Some community members and immigration advocates said the president exaggerated the dangers in the community to justify an immigration crackdown.

“I drove through Brentwood this morning and people were jogging, children were playing in the street. It’s complete hyperbole and misreprents the community,” said Walter Barrientos, Long Island organizing director for immigration group Make the Road New York.

Assemb. Phil Ramos (D-Brentwood) said Suffolk County police and the FBI have worked diligently to address the gang murders. “The community is going through a very difficult time, but President Trump is using these tragedies as a way to inflame anti-immigrant feelings, purely for political gains,” he said.

Robert Zimmerman, a Democratic National Committeeman from Great Neck, said Trump used the police as a political tool.

“We all recognize the savagery and the evil of MS-13, but when the president referred to Long Island as a killing field, that was an affront to every Suffolk and Nassau police officer,” he said.

Others praised the speech. Evelyn Rodriguez, the mother of Kayla Cuevas, one of the girls murdered by MS-13, was invited to attend the speech by Rep. Peter King’s office.

“What he was saying was what we’ve been asking for — more resources, for him to support our Suffolk PD,” she said in an interview after the president’s speech. “We need change here in our community.."

Fuad Faruque, 21 of Brentwood and vice-chair of the Stony Brook College Republicans, said he lived in the community all his life. “People do not feel safe at night walking their streets. Businesses are ashamed to say they’re based there. I don’t think it’s hyperbole,” he said....

Returning to the topic of immigration, Trump also said, “We will build the wall,” saying it would help prevent illegal immigration from Mexico and obstruct the drug trade. “The wall is vital as a tool for ending the humanitarian disaster.”

Trump blamed former President Barack Obama’s immigration policies for allowing a surge of criminals into the country.

He said of 150,000 unaccompanied minors that have entered the United States, 4,000 came to Suffolk — including seven now indicted for murder.

He also appeared to take a broader swipe at current immigrants.

“You say, what happened to the old days where people came into this country, they worked and they worked and they worked, and they had families, and they paid taxes, and they did all sorts of things, and their families got stronger, and they were closely knit? We don’t see that.”

The country’s top immigration enforcement officer says he is looking into charging sanctuary city leaders with violating federal anti-smuggling laws because he is fed up with local officials putting their communities and his officers at risk by releasing illegal immigrants from jail.

Thomas Homan, the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also told Americans to expect more work site enforcement targeting unscrupulous employers and more 287(g) agreements with willing police and sheriff’s departments that want to help get illegal immigrants off their streets. Eventually, he said, ICE will break the deportation records of 409,849 migrants set in 2012 under President Obama.

“I think 409,000 is a stretch this year, but if [the Justice Department] keeps going in the direction they’re going in, if we continue to expand our operational footprint, I think we’re going to get there,” he told The Washington Times. “Our interior arrests will go up. They’re going to top last year’s for sure.”

Mr. Homan is the spear tip of President Trump’s effort to step up immigration enforcement — perhaps the largest swing in attitude for any agency in government from the last administration to the current one.

Agents and officers have been unshackled from the limits imposed by Mr. Obama, whose rules restricted arrests to less than 20 percent of the estimated illegal immigrant population.

Now, most illegal immigrants are eligible for deportation, though Mr. Homan said serious criminals, recent border crossers and people who are actively defying deportation orders are still the agency’s priorities.

He said the biggest impediment to expanding deportations is no longer ICE priority, but rather a huge backlog in the immigration courts, which are part of the Justice Department. Migrants who in the past would have admitted their unauthorized status and accepted deportation are now fighting their cases.

“They can play the system for a long time,” he said.

That resistance extends well beyond the courtroom.

Migrants are increasingly refusing to open doors for his officers and, when they do, the encounters are turning violent, Mr. Homan said. Use-of-force instances are up about 150 percent, and assaults on ICE officers are up about 40 percent, he said.

Local officials are also pushing back, declaring themselves sanctuaries and enacting policies that block their law enforcement officers from cooperating with ICE.

The refusals range from declining to hold migrants beyond their regular release time to refusing all communication — even notifying ICE when a criminal deportable alien is about to be released into the community.

For Mr. Homan, who came up through the ranks of the Border Patrol and then ICE as a sworn law enforcement officer, that sort of resistance is enraging.

“Shame on people that want to put politics ahead of officer safety, community safety,” he said.

Sanctuaries say that cooperating with ICE frightens immigrants — both legal and illegal — and makes them less likely to report other crimes. They say that is a bigger threat to public safety than crimes committed by illegal immigrants.

Solid data are tough to come by, though some police chiefs say they have been able to calculate drops in crime reporting among Hispanics since Mr. Trump took office, and they blame his get-tough approach to illegal immigration.

ICE is also facing headwinds in the courts. One judge this week halted efforts to deport Iraqi migrants who have been convicted of serious crimes and have been ordered deported, but who now say as Christians they fear for their lives if sent back to their home country.

The judge faulted the U.S. for not being able to guarantee that the deportees won’t end up in territory controlled by Islamic State terrorists, who routinely execute Christians.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court this week issued a ruling that law enforcement cannot hold migrants for pickup by ICE beyond their normal release times. That effectively forbids police from complying with detainer requests, which ask local authorities to hold targets for up to 48 hours.

Mr. Homan said one officer in a jail can process 10 people a day, but once someone is released, it takes a whole team of officers to track down and arrest the person in the community — where interaction is more dangerous for all sides.

That has helped fuel the spike in violent encounters that Mr. Homan highlighted in the interview.

“When we knock on doors, as any law enforcement officer will tell you, it’s risky, it’s dangerous. Compare that to arresting someone in the jail, when you know they don’t have weapons in the jail,” he said.

“It’s a matter of time before one of my officers is seriously hurt or doesn’t go home because someone made a political decision on the backs of my officers,” he said.

But he said he won’t be chased out of “sanctuaries” and pointedly raised a section of federal code — 8 U.S.C. 1324 — that outlaws attempts to “conceal, harbor or shield” illegal immigrants.

“I think these sanctuary cities need to make sure they’re on the right side of the law. They need to look at this. Because I am,” he said.

Asked whether that means he will recommend prosecutions, he said, “We’re looking at what options we have.”

The law carries a penalty of five years in prison in most cases, but penalties could rise to include life in prison or even death if someone is killed during the crime.

Mr. Homan said refusing to cooperate is counterproductive for sanctuary cities, whose goal is to protect illegal immigrants from deportation. He said if his agents have to knock on doors in the community, then thy are likely to encounter still more illegal immigrants to round up.

“If I arrest a bad guy in the jail, I arrest him. But if I go to his home or his place of employment and arrest the bad guy, and there’s five guys with him? They’re going to come too,” the chief said.

Indeed, those kinds of arrests have stirred anger among advocacy groups, which say “collateral” arrests are hurting immigrant communities.

Not all communities are resisting.

Mr. Homan said the number of police and sheriff’s departments signed up for the 287(g) program allowing them to help process illegal immigrants for deportation from their jails has already doubled under Mr. Trump and should triple by the end of the year.

He said he also has received inquiries from departments that want to restore 287(g) task forces, which would train state and local police to enforce immigration laws on the streets. Mr. Homan said he is studying that possibility.

Mr. Homan has become a target for immigrant rights groups — particularly after the ICE chief linked this weekend’s horrific deaths of 10 migrants at the hands of smugglers to sanctuary cities.

“Dishonest and disgusting,” said Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice Education Fund. “This country deserves an immigration debate that connects the dots between development and opportunity in home countries, safe and legal migration policies, and intelligent immigrant integration policies. What it doesn’t need are hard-liners shamelessly politicizing a tragedy.”

Mr. Homan, who led the investigation into an even worse 2003 incident in which 19 migrants died in a trailer in Victoria, Texas, said the solution is to enforce the laws and persuade people not to make the dangerous journey in the first place.

His agency has even begun arresting parents who pay smugglers to bring their children on the dangerous journey to the U.S. Mr. Homan said it was too early to talk about numbers for that operation.

But he challenged his critics to see what he sees.

“People who don’t think we should enforce immigration law — I wish they’d hang out with me for a week,” Mr. Homan said. “I wish they were with me in Phoenix, Arizona — people held hostage. A guy with duct tape all over his body, with a hole poked out in his mouth where he breathed through a straw for days, until they paid his fee. They weren’t with me on the trail in the Border Patrol where we found dead aliens abandoned by smugglers. They weren’t with me standing in the back of that traffic trailer with a 5-year-old boy who suffocated in his father’s arms.”

Oregon was the first state in the country to pass a "sanctuary" statute 30 years ago.

Today, with illegal aliens causing a myriad of problems in states across the country, it makes no sense to have laws that prohibit law enforcement officers from aiding in the enforcement of our Federal immigration laws.

Illegal aliens are not and should not be a "protected class" of people, allowed to break our laws if it suits their purposes.

Please help OFIR by volunteering to collect the needed signatures of your friends, family, at events you attend etc. to get this initiative on the November 2018 General Election ballot. Voters can tell our Oregon Legislature, loud and clear, to stop shielding people in our country illegally. Remove the state statute that prohibits law enforcement officials from working with ICE to remove criminal aliens from our state!

Call 503.435.0141 to request signature sheets. If you get the answering machine, please leave the following information:

Three Oregon legislators are spearheading an initiative petition that would repeal the Oregon law prohibiting local and state police from enforcing federal immigration laws.

Rep. Mike Nearman, R-Independence, Rep. Sal Esquivel, R-Medford, and Rep. Greg Barreto, R-Pendleton, certified a ballot title with the Elections Division for Initiative Petition 2018-022, which is proposed for the November 6, 2018 General Election.

The trio is hoping voters will support repealing Oregon Statute 181.850 [ORS 181A.820], which states law enforcement agencies may not use agency money, equipment or personnel to detect or apprehend people who are only violating federal immigration laws by being foreign citizens in the United States.

Oregonians for Immigration Reform, an organization calling for an end to illegal immigration, is "cosigning" the initiative, said communications director Jim Ludwick.

"Every nation has a sovereign right to set its own immigration policies and we believe the state statute is in violation of federal law," Ludwick said. "People should have the chance to vote on this."

Ludwick said OFIR plans to lead a community campaign which includes providing information to residents an gathering signatures for the initiative at places like the Oregon State Fair and other public venues.

"We're going to start a vigorous process to make sure we overturn the sanctuary state of Oregon," Ludwick said.

88,184 signatures are required to certify the initiative for a ballot measure, according to the Oregon Secretary of State Elections Division.

Rep. Nearman and Rep. Barreto did not respond to requests for comment. Rep. Esquivel was out of state and could not be reached by publication time.

Andrea Williams, executive director of immigrant rights organization Causa Oregon, said Causa has been keeping an eye on the initiative ever since it was filed.

"The last thing we need is our local law enforcement resources being used for federal immigration purposes," Williams said.

She said Causa has passed 14 inclusivity resolutions across Oregon cities and counties that vow to not allow city resources to be used to enforce federal immigration law. Salem City Councilors voted unanimously to pass the resolution in February.

Williams said the initiative would undue the bipartisan effort in 1987 that brought ORS 181.850 into law, which she says was in response to accusations of police racial profiling.

Ludwick said, however, local and state law enforcement should follow federal law.

"People need to understand the cost of illegal aliens on the state of Oregon," Ludwick said. "Everybody has to obey the law."

The prospective petition, which was initially filed on April 25, is currently in an appeal period. Registered voters have the opportunity to submit comments and requests for the Oregon Supreme Court to review the ballot until Monday, July 31.

Empowered by a president who has "taken the handcuffs off of law enforcement," the nation's chief immigration official revealed Tuesday that deportation targets have surged and that he's planning to deploy more agents and resources to "sanctuary cities" to arrest illegal criminals.

Thomas D. Homan, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in an interview that since Trump entered office, illegal border crossings have crashed by almost 70 percent, "an historic low," arrests inside the country have jumped 40 percent and that demands for illegal criminals in local jails has skyrocketed 80 percent.

"You can like President Trump, not like him, like his policies, not like his policies, but one thing no one can argue with is the effect they've had," said Homan, the former chief ICE enforcement boss and a 30-year immigration agency veteran.

He said that the change in immigration enforcement has been radical — and welcome — under Trump. "You'd think everybody would be celebrating these policies," he said during the 45-minute interview in his office.

One group he says are cheering: Border Patrol and ICE agents. "Now they have meaning to their jobs," said Homan. "What this president has done is taken the handcuffs off of law enforcement officers who are charged with enforcing immigration laws," he added.

The drop in illegal crossings has given ICE a chance to redirect resources to interior United States and immigrants locked up in jails, illegally working jobs and on the run.

A key target is the 300-plus sanctuary cities and counties that do not cooperate with ICE and ignore requests that they detail criminal illegals for ICE arrest and deportation proceedings.

Homan called sanctuaries "ludicrous," adding, "In the America I grew up in, cities didn't shield people who violated the law."

A New York native who took his first immigration job during the Reagan administration, Homan said that he plans to flood sanctuary cities with agents. He has been OK'd to hire 10,000 new agents and many will help track down illegals in those havens.

"The president recognizes that you've got to have a true interior enforcement strategy to make it uncomfortable for them," he said.

He ripped cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, and San Francisco that refuse to let ICE officers into jails to seize illegal criminals. He explained that it is much safer for ICE targets, police and citizens to make the arrest in jails than on city streets.

What's more, he said that the sanctuary policies create more fear in immigrant communities by forcing ICE agents to hunt down fugitives at their homes or work. "I'm going to arrest him and anybody else with him because there is no population off the table any more. So if you really want to tap down the fear in the immigrant community, I would think the counties would want me in their jails," he said.

Homan testified before Congress recently that under Trump, no illegal immigrant is safe from deportation, though the administration is prioritizing criminals, fugitives, threats to national security and those who illegally reentered the U.S.

"I don't think that there is a magic number that we need to get to," said Homan.

"What I want to get to is a clear understanding from everybody, from the congressmen to the politicians to law enforcement to those who enter the country illegally, that ICE is open for business. We're going to enforce the laws on the books without apology, we'll continue to prioritize what we do. But it's not OK to violate the laws of this country anymore, you're going to be held accountable," he added.